Ultimate joy of Easter: the Divine Mercy of God

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Divine Mercy Sunday in the Octave of Easter, 16 April 2023
Acts 2:42-47 ><}}}*> 1 Peter 1:3-9 ><}}}*> John 20:19-31

The ultimate joy of Easter is God’s Divine Mercy, of how his Son Jesus Christ became human like us in everything except sin, searching and finding us to bring us back to the Father by dying on the Cross. Now he is risen, Jesus overflows us with his Divine Mercy right here, right now.

Unlike other religions, Christianity is so unique because it is about God looking for us humans by becoming like us so that we may become like him in Jesus Christ. In Christ, we have come to know and experience God as a person, relating with us in all tenderness and love because he himself had gone through all our pains and hurts, betrayals and disappointments, even death! Read the Bible and you shall see from the Old Testament to the New Testament, we find series of stories of God searching for man, beginning with Adam and Eve who hid after eating the forbidden fruit reaching its highest point in the coming of Jesus Christ who on this second Sunday in Easter came looking again for us represented by the disciples who have gone hiding in a locked room for fears of their leaders who have threatened to arrest them following reports of the empty tomb.

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
John 20:19-20, 24-28

*“The Incredulity of St. Thomas”, painting by Caravaggio (1601-02) from commons.wikimedia.org.*

“The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.” But we wonder, what kind of rejoicing was it? It must have been more than the rejoicing of passing the Bar or any board exam. There was something else in their rejoicing if we try to imagine being there on that Sunday evening of the third day.

What do I mean? Have you ever felt being the one actually lost when some friends or loved ones as well valuable things have gone “missing”?

That feeling of being the one actually lost because the “missing” persons and things have never left us entirely but just there waiting to be found and rediscovered like when things get hidden underneath the car seat or misplaced somewhere else and forgotten. Once “found” again, there is that deep sense of joy coupled with a sense of wonder and astonishment because the truth is, it was not us who have found the lost person or thing but they were the ones who actually found us too! Here is a case more profound than the “eureka” experience for we were the ones who were lost and finally found again.

And that’s the rejoicing of the disciples in seeing Jesus again that evening of Easter Sunday! They were the ones who were actually lost and found by Jesus!

Just like us today in many instances in life when we have been running away from God, locking ourselves inside our very selves because of fears, insecurities and false securities, pride and sinfulness, as well as doubts and incredulity, unbelief and disbelief in God and in one another. Like Thomas, many times we have been so unreasonable in our demands for proofs of God and everything, insisting that “to see is to believe” without realizing that it is when we believe that we actually see.

Recall during the ministry of Jesus in Galilee how he kept telling his disciples to search for the “lost sheep” of Israel first and later everyone who have sinned and been away from God. That was Divine Mercy in action. Consider these other concrete expressions of Divine Mercy by Jesus:

At the Last Supper, John told us that Jesus “loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end” (Jn.13:1); this he proved by washing the feet of the Twelve! He further proved his love the following Good Friday by dying on the Cross and immediately at Easter, to prove his love again, he looked for Mary Magdalene to break the news of his resurrection to his disciples.

Jesus is the one who finds us unaware of his presence like on this second Sunday after Easter when he appeared to Thomas who was so shocked and surprised that all he could tell Jesus was “my Lord and my God”! I doubt if ever had the chance to examine the Lord’s wounds at all!

Next Sunday we shall hear in the gospel how it is always Jesus who searches and finds us when we least expect him like in the opposite directions in life when he walked with the two disciples to Emmaus Easter evening, only to be recognized by them at his breaking of bread.

Last Friday we have heard in the gospel how Jesus again for the third time appeared after finding them in a fruitless night of fishing in Lake Tiberias by telling them to cast their net to the right side of the boat; their nets almost teared with the bountiful catch of fish!

*“The Road to Emmaus” painting by American Daniel Bonnell from fineartamerica.com.*

In life, it is always Jesus who searches and finds us. We are the ones always getting lost. Many times in life we cry, asking where is God but the fact is he never leaves us, he is always with us, coming to us everyday, especially on Sundays in the Holy Mass where Jesus leads our celebrations.

On Tuesday, I will celebrate my 25th year of ordination to the priesthood. How I got ordained was a long story of getting lost for nine years when I was sent out of the high school seminary after graduation in 1982. I went to college in UST and finished AB Journalism in 1986, working as a writer then a reporter for GMA Channel 7 News until 1991 when I gave my vocation a second chance by entering the seminary again.

All those years from 1982 to 1991, I felt lost and empty despite a promising career with good pay and all the perks that went with it and a sense of security but, deep inside me was a big hole of being incomplete. That was how I went back to God in prayers, then slowly to the Mass and Confessions, and the more I moved closer to God, the more I felt empty yet eager for him that I finally consulted some priests. After a few years of discernment, I decided to leave everything and started anew in God in the seminary in 1991.

It was not easy going back to the seminary but God had such wonderful ways of finding me, even at the nick of time, to save my vocation. My turning point happened during our Ignatian retreat of 30 days when I finally committed myself to God as I felt his love and presence so irresistible, even himself so true. In 1998 with six other classmates, we were ordained priests at the Malolos Cathedral. Again, it was not an easy 25 years with so many times I often felt lost and empty mostly by my own making when I sin. But like before, Jesus in his Divine Mercy has always been the One searching and finding me even in the opposite directions when I hid amid rejections, failures, fears, sadness and weeping.

Like the early Christians in our first reading, I have found God most present in those 25 years as a priest and as an individual in the communal celebrations of the Holy Eucharist, aka, the breaking of bread as I realized too that priestly celibacy is lived in a community not only of priests but with you the laity.

With the responsorial psalm this Sunday as our prayer, “let us give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting” because as Peter tells us in the second reading, God our Father “in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pt. 1:3). Let us rejoice in him who finds us always when we are lost. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead. Say a prayer for me this Tuesday. Thank you.

*Prayer I have composed after our 30-day retreat in 1995 that until now, I still pray because it is so personally true. That is Divine Mercy for me. And hope with you too!*

The joy of Easter: Christ comes in our rejections

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Easter Octave, 14 April 2023
Acts 4:1-12   ><]]]]'> + <'[[[[><   John 21:1-14

*Photo by author, Mt. Nebo in Jordan overlooking the Israeli border, May 2019.*

How wonderful to ponder,
to think over and over,
Lord Jesus,
how you yourself experienced
rejection - big time -
that now you come to us
in our own rejections too!

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, answered them, “Leaders of the people and elders: If we are being examined today about a good deed done to a cripple, namely, by what means he was saved, then all of you and all the people of Israel should know that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead; in his name this man stands before you healed. He is the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.”
Acts 4:8-11

Many times, Lord,
we keep on going back
to our previous way of life
like Peter and company on
that third time you appeared
to them at the Lake of Tiberias;
actually, O Lord,
the most crushing rejections
we have gone through are nothing
compared to yours because very often,
most rejections we experience 
actually come from our very selves:
our self-rejections
of our worth,
of our abilities,
most of all,
of us being loved
and forgiven by you!

Help us to find you in
every rejection that comes
our way when you appear
like after a night of fruitless
catch of fish when you told 
the disciples to cast their net
to the right side (Jn. 21:6);
open our eyes to recognize you,
Jesus, like your beloved disciple
in every bountiful catch
after every rejection as you
firmly establish us
for your task 
and mission.
Amen.

*Photo by author, June 2019, Macapagal Blvd., Pasay City.*

The joy of Easter: Christ comes despite our ignorance and sins

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Easter Octave, 13 April 2023
Acts 3:11-26   ><]]]]'> + <'[[[[><   Luke 24:35-48

*Photo from Facebook, Easter 2021: “There is an urgency to announce the Joy, the joy of the Risen Lord.”*

Praise and glory to you,
Lord Jesus Christ who still
comes to us in our
sins and ignorance
(Acts 3:17),
doubts and incredulity
(Luke 24:37),
even disbelief or unbelief.

Like the psalmist today,
we sing of your glory:
"O Lord, our God,
how glorious is your name 
over all the earth!
What is man that you should
be mindful of him, 
or the son of man that 
you would care for him?"
(Psalm 8:2) that you never stop 
coming to us 
to call and send us,
to forgive and convince us
of your love!

Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.”
Luke 24:38-39

Dearest Lord Jesus,
let us come closer to you
to know you better,
to love you truly,
and to follow you closely
so we may share you
with others
and be your loving presence
especially among
the unloved and neglected,
to be the extensions of your healing 
hands to the sick and old,
and most especially,
your gift of peace.
Amen.

The joy of Easter: Jesus going the opposite direction with us

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Easter Octave, 12 April 2023
Acts 3:1-10   ><}}}'> + <'{{{><   Luke 24:13-35

Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ
in leading us back to you,
to Jerusalem in those 
many nights of our lives
when we walked the opposite
direction of going back to Emmaus,
to our previous ways of life like
those two disciples on that
Easter afternoon.

Oh what a joy,
dearest Lord that even for a while
you walk with us going the
opposite direction,
listening to our frustrations and
disappointments when things do not
happen as we have planned and
expected; no coercions, no reprimands
except for calling us "foolish" and
"slow of the heart" to believe the
Scriptures (Lk.24:25) for that is 
what we really are!

Forgive us, Jesus,
when we easily give up
to failures and shortcomings
that we leave you and your mission
entrusted to us; help us find our way
back to you, to Jerusalem!
Most especially,
keep our hearts "burning"
with love and zeal for you,
sharing you with others,
strengthening them,
raising them up like
what Peter and John did 
to the crippled man at the
Beautiful Gate
as we continue to seek
you O Lord even
in darkness and emptiness,
sadness and losses,
sickness and failures.
Amen.

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 22 March 2023.*

The joy of Easter: Jesus comes in our weeping

*Photo by author, morning sun at Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2023.*

One with the Psalmist today, 
O dear Jesus Christ, 
I also proclaim that indeed
"The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord"
(Psalm 33:5)
because even in our sadness,
right in our weeping and in
our crying, 
that is where and when you come!

Jesus said to Magdalene, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher.
John 20:15-16

Like Magdalene,
there are times we are overtaken
by our grief and sadness over our
many disappointments and failures,
losses and defeats like deaths 
that we could not see 
your loving presence,
your consoling comfort
O Lord Jesus Christ.

Like the listeners of Peter on that
day of Pentecost, "cut us to the heart"
(Acts 2:37), lay bare before us this
glaring truth of your Resurrection, Jesus,
of your victory over death and darkness,
over sin and sickness
that we may be more open to accept and
embrace your loving presence
with us and in us during the most
trying times of life like death of a loved one
or a sudden shift in our lives.
Amen.

*Photo by author, Jesuit Cemetery, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2023.*

Roots

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 10 April 2023
A photo-reflection of our rootedness in God while at the Sacred Heart Novitiate last March 20-22, 2023.

In the lush rolling hills of Novaliches
that is now fast disappearing are
23 hectares of pastureland and mini forests 
inside the Sacred Heart Novitiate
of the Society of Jesus.

Thank God it had opened
anew its doors to retreatants like me
wishing to have a "vacare Deo"
or vacation in the Lord.

A retreat
or a vacare Deo
is a return to our roots,
God.

While preparing for the formal
start of my retreat last March 20,
I felt the roots of the many trees
speaking to me
 in this Bethel of mine
where like Jacob in
Genesis 28:10-19,
I met God.
Sometimes,
I wrestled with Him
like Jacob too
in Peniel/Penuel
(Gen. 32:23-33).

How interesting
the words "true" and "truth"
along with its cousin "trust"
came from the old English
"treowe"
for tree.

According to experts,
the Anglo-Saxons worshipped trees
they called "treowe"
because they evoked firmness
and solidness;
the more rooted is the tree,
the more firm does it stand.
Like truth.

Whatever that is true, firmly standing
like a tree or treowe always has extensive 
network of roots, creating linkages
and interconnections from which came
that image of the 
"family tree".

When there are interconnections,
linkages,
there are relationships.
People with the most
wonderful relationships
are also the truthful ones
because they are trustworthy.
Reliable.
Like God.
Our root.
Our rootedness
who connects us with
everyone.

When we are rooted
and grounded in God,
nothing can ever disturb us
like a big, big, tree.
We can withstand all storm,
bear the sun's heat
remaining firm
and aglow
 with God's majesty
in daytime and in darkness.

Lovelier than the tree,
thank God
for creating me.
Hallelujah!

The joy of Easter: still called “brothers” by Jesus despite our sins

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Easter Octave, 10 April 2023
Acts 2:14, 22-33   ><)))"> + <"(((><   Matthew 28:8-15

Did I hear you right,
my Lord Jesus Christ,
you called me "brother"
after I have abandoned you
on your Cross?

Then Jesus said to them (Mary Magdalene and the other Mary), Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
Matthew 28:10

Yes, Lord Jesus.
I hear you every day,
each morning when I wake up
to a brand new day is like Easter Sunday
when you call me "brother" despite
my being like one of the Twelve
who abandoned you,
denied you,
even betrayed you!
Despite my sinfulness,
you forgive me,
you bless me,
most of all, 
love me by calling me still
a brother!

Let me relish and savor
this truth,
this relationship
you have kept with me
but I have always forgotten
and taken for granted;
let me go back to Galilee
where you have called me,
where you have healed me,
where you have fed me,
where you have forgiven me;
let me go back to Galilee
to continue your work,
to continue crossing the seas
amid storms,
to continue walking by your side
even if I falter and fall behind
in this journey as your fisher of men.
Amen.

*Photo by author, sunrise at Lake of Galilee, the Holy Land, May 2019.*

Fulness in emptiness

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Easter Sunday, Cycle A, 09 April 2023
Acts 10:34, 37-43 ><}}}"> Colossians 3:1-4 ><}}}"> John 20:1-9

*Photo by author, sunrise at Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Bgy. Binulusan, Infanta, Quezon, 04 March 2023.*

Blessed happy Easter everyone! Rejoice, the Lord is Risen! I know it is very difficult to greet everyone with Happy Easter compared with Merry Christmas primarily due to our weather. Most of all, because Easter is so empty unlike Christmas so filled with many signs and symbols, even with gifts and other things.

But that is the mystery – and joy – of Easter.

Emptiness. Even nothingness.

Because when we are empty, when we have nothing, that is when God fills us with his abundance.

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.”
John 20:1-2

How amazing that we Filipinos are so fond of using the expression “wala lang” for nothing or empty. When a man texts a woman with a simple hi or hello plus the words, wala lang, do not believe him because that’s something! There is something in simply texting you out of the blue! Meron yun kasi di ka niya text kung wala talaga.

In the provinces if you come for a lunch or dinner, whether there is an occasion or none, it is common to hear the hosts especially the poorer ones apologizing for not having a lot of food when in fact there are more than two viands like the freshest fish and vegetables we urbanites miss most. They would always say, “wala po kaming nakayanan, mahina po ang ani/huli, pasensiya na po.” Such kind of superb graciousness among us Filipinos in the provinces is so ordinary.

Perhaps, it is a beautiful sign we have imbibed from our deep faith in Jesus Christ who was nowhere to be found inside the empty tomb.

His absence from the empty tomb meant he was present somewhere. That was what Magdalene implied when she said “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him” (Jn.1:2).

Though the tomb was empty, Jesus was not missing at all. He had risen from the dead! In fact later, they would meet him along the way and that very evening too until his ascension into heaven.

Emptiness and nothingness can be positive or negative.

Positive emptiness means nothingness for God who alone suffices. There is an inner feeling of emptiness for something or Someone bigger, greater. That is how a man feels when he texts a woman of his dream with wala lang: he feels empty and nothing without her! The same with God. St. Augustine perfectly said it, “my heart is restless until it rests in you, O Lord.”

*Henry Osawa Tanner’s painting, “The Three Marys” (1910), photo from biblicalarchaeology.org.*

Easter is positive emptiness: Jesus is no longer in the tomb because he is risen. It is the definitive sign we have been freed from the clutches of evil and sin, of death and decay. Death is not the final statement in life. The gospel at Easter Vigil is more picturesque when Matthew narrated how Magdalene saw an angel seated on the empty tomb of Jesus, a beautiful reminder of how suffering and death have become Christ’s crowing glory. From being a tomb to becoming a Throne!

Every time we experience pains and sufferings, of emptiness and nothingness in life that all we could do is surrender everything to God like Jesus on the Cross, that is positive emptiness. We know for sure and feel it inside us that there is something in this nothingness. That is why never say “walang-wala ako” (I got nothing) because we always have God in us.

Positive emptiness/nothingness is the virtue of hope which is not positive thinking that things would get better. In fact, to have hope in God is to believe and accept that things could get worst like Jesus during the days leading to his arrest and crucifixion because to hope is believe that even if everything is lost, there is always God loving us in the end.

Hope is positive emptiness because it is creating a space within us for God and for others in love. Positive emptiness and nothingness is seeking God right in that emptiness like Peter and John running into the tomb after learning it was empty because we love, we have a relationship that continues after one is gone and not seen.

That ultimately is what positive emptiness/nothingness is all about, love.

It is similar to that feeling at the end of a movie when we refuse to stand and leave the cinema because we believe – we hope – there is still another final scene, there is still a coming sequel to what we have seen. We are not totally saddened with the end of the movie as we strongly feel, there would be a part two, a part three, and a part four which has been the trend all these years of the great movies of our youth! How funny that after exhausting the sequels, there came also the prequels. Why? Because we have all established a relationship, a love among us the fans of a movie franchise like Star Wars or Die Hard and its creators.

*Photo by Ms. April Oliveros, Mt. Pulag, 25 March 2023.*

That is what Easter is all about. We do not simply give up for life’s many sufferings and pains, trials and tribulations because we feel and know deep inside we have Jesus Christ who have risen from the dead. We are emptied daily in order to be filled with Jesus himself every day too. There is no need to see much things. Enough to feel deep inside like what Peter explained to the people at the first reading. Their very lives proved amid the physical emptiness or absence of Jesus in the world that Jesus was present, was Someone with Something.

This is the great challenge for us these days. More and more people are spending the Holy Week and Easter in the beach or somewhere else to bond as family where they could see more of each other and see more sights than the ordinary we have during this time of the year at home and in the parish that are usually bland and dry. More people prefer to go somewhere here and abroad in the hope of still being able to pray and celebrate the sacraments there because they feel empty here at home. We really hope they have positive emptiness than negative emptiness.

Negative emptiness is feeling empty amid the plethora of things and pleasures in life. Many times these days due to mobility, it is so easy to go hiking to the mountains or to some exotic destinations to fill the emptiness we have inside, to search for our “lost selves” (hanapin ang sarili). But very often, after some time of relief, the same emptiness and nothingness occurs. Nothing happens because what we really have is positive emptiness, our desire for God, the most essential in life who cannot be replaced by anything at all.

Negative emptiness is seeking things, sights and sounds, things of the senses to fill up curiosities, to settle doubts, to find happiness not realizing it is totally different from joy and fulfillment.

Negative emptiness is insisting on holding on to what can be seen, to what is tangible despite the inner directions we have been feeling inside toward God. For some time, we can refuse to follow its directions but there are times, positive emptiness and nothingness impose itself on us like when there is death or serious illness in the family. At first, it can be scary, so frightening but eventually, liberating like in the experiences of the first disciples of Jesus.

May we heed St. Paul’s words this Easter from the second reading, “Brothers and sisters: If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God” (Col. 3:1).

Dearest Lord Jesus,
grant us the grace to seek and find
you in emptiness and nothingness,
even in darkness;
many times, our senses blur 
our sight of you;
how sad that even in our celebrations
we are so fascinated with all the colors
and antics in the rituals and processions 
we keep in our cameras and cellphones
but never in our hearts and memories
that soon enough, they fade, we forget
and see them only as pictures
bereft of meaning because it lacked relationship;
let us see you more beyond 
to have sights and insights
as well as hindsight and foresight
of your loving presence
in emptiness and nothingness
because what we have and keep
is your relationship,
your love and mercy.
Amen.

Dying well is living well

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
The Seven Last Words, 07 April 2023

*Photo by author, Chapel of the Holy Family, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 2014.*

It was now about noon and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon because of an eclipse of the sun. Then the veil of the temple was torn down the middle. Jesus cried our in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”; and when he had said this he breathed his last.
Luke 23:44-46

Do you have a “bucket list”, of things to do before turning a certain age or before dying? Very often we read in social media articles of sample “bucket lists”, of things to do, things to see, food to eat before one dies as if these are the ultimate things or cities or food in the world!

I am sorry I do not believe in such “bucket list” no matter how good is that movie of the same title. It is all non-sense! Why spend so much time and energies of things to do before dying or turning 50 or 60 or whatever age when we should be making the most out of every present moment because we could die any time!

We will all die one day for sure. But, will we die well? Our death is our most wonderful and lasting gift to our loved ones if we die for them and for others, if we lived a fruitful life we can leave for them. The question we should be asking is “how do we live our lives meaningfully now in the present so that when we die, our lives would continue to bear fruit in the generations that will follow us?” Stop wondering or asking about what we can do in the future or the years we have left to live because that is highly hypothetical. It has not happened yet and might not even happen at all if we die soon enough. Get real by living fully in the present! Coming to terms with death is coming to terms with life. The moment we realize we shall die one day, that is when we start living authentically. And joyfully.

Jesus died so well on that Good Friday because he was able to surrender everything to the Father and for us all because he lived fully that is why he was able to surrender or give or commend his spirit. How about us? How sad that many times our loved ones left us with much pain and regrets because we never fully lived with them nor enjoy precious moments with them while still alive. Live fully in love and joy, forgiveness and mercy. Celebrate life daily. Life is too short to spend it in dramas and wishful thinking.

At the hour of our death like Jesus on that Good Friday, can we also give others and God our spirit of love and mercy, our spirit of joy and kindness? Or, we are still busy thinking what else we can do in this life? What if we are called back to God now, at this very moment?

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus Christ,
grant me the grace to live 
my life in you,
with you,
and through you
to the fullest in every here and now
so that if ever I should die any moment,
I am able to commend to the Father 
my spirit back to him
without regrets,
without pains,
without sin
but only with joy and gratitude
that my loved ones would 
feel and nurture
until we all meet again
in your kingdom in heaven.
Amen.

Thank you for following our reflections on the Seven Last Words of Jesus on the Cross. May you have a meaningful Holy Week and a joyful Easter! God bless you!

Love is perfection of life

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
The Seven Last Words, 06 April 2023

There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.
John 19:29-30

Every Maundy Thursday, people await that most unique part of the Mass every year when the priest washes the feet of some members of the community. As a priest, it is one of the most humbling experiences I have had when a brother priest washed my feet on that Mass I attended in 2008 and 2021.

But there is something more beautiful to the ritual washing of feet. It is the context and words that accompany that: “Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end” (John 13:1).

The Greek word for the “end” is telos which is not just a terminal end in itself but indicates or connotes direction. Or fulfillment and perfection, not just a ceasing or end or stoppage of life or any operation.

When Jesus said on the Cross “It is finished”, he meant he had fulfilled his mission, that is, he had perfectly loved us to the end by giving us his very life.

At his death on the Cross, Jesus showed us perfectly in no uncertain terms his love for us, the Father’s love for us that he had told to Nicodemus at the start of the fourth gospel that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (Jn. 3:16).

There on the Cross this was definitively fulfilled and perfected more than ever. Jesus did not have to die on the Cross but he chose to go through it because of his love for us.

Here we find the beautiful meaning of love. It is not just obeying the commandments nor being good and kind with everyone. Love in its totality is the perfection of life. It is our only destiny in life, our call to life from the very beginning. Love, love, love. Keep on loving until it hurts. Until the end.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.
1 John 4:11-12

From that same letter, John declared at the very start that God is love which according to Pope Benedict XVI in his first encyclical is the most profound statement about God found only in Christianity.

My dear friends, only God can love us perfectly. Only Jesus can love us perfectly like what he did on the Cross. Human love is always imperfect. In our imperfect love, let us find Jesus filling up, making whole, perfecting our love for each other. Let us die in our selves sometimes when we have to let go with each one’s imperfection like when they make side comments. Forget all about revenge. Forgive. Understand the shortcomings of everyone. Accept and own the pains and hurts inflicted on us by our loved ones like our mom and dad, your former wife or husband, your friends, of those who have hurt you in words and deeds. That is being like Christ, dying on the Cross because of love.

Let us pray for those we love and those who love us despite our imperfections.

Lord Jesus Christ,
how I wish I could love until the end,
how I wish I could say too like you
"It is finished";
forgive me because many times with me,
the pains and hurts I have had are not yet
finished, even festering inside me,
eating me up, rotting inside me
that I could not grow and bloom in you.
Forgive me and teach me to forgive too
for it is in forgiving we truly love
perfectly like you.
Amen.